come sit down with me
I will serve you tea and cheese
let us eat and talk

the world moves quickly
we forget beautiful things
because we see not

fine morning roses
the curve of moon clouds at night
bright twinkle of stars

we are rushed people
we snort Facebook Twitter Blogs
digital coke

the beautiful life
forgotten lonely hearts
the smallest smile

Aphorisms here
many dratted syllables
but very awesome

like tea and cheese talk
you slow down think and relax
watch clear blue skies

but this condition
all through words by M Hogarth
wonderful salve

for speedburns from life
come read love pray sip quickly
i grant five star like

for there are good books
and there are good books reread
this is the latter

Note: I did this for fun, and out of admiration for what M.C.A. Hogarth has done. Read this; read the Aphorisms of Kherishdar, I cannot recommend this too highly.

(better at writing
prose not nice haikus sadly
refrigerator!)

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I’m not a big fan of high fantasy—it can often be so very over-written as to be painful to read.  This is not like that.  There is the occasional word or image that is a bit over the top—and some of the made-up nouns are a little much—but the writing is otherwise careful and beautiful.  Each vignette is self-contained, and I found myself quickly drawn in, turning pages.

Neat idea, solidly done.

Note: the author considers it science fiction, but the parts I’ve read don’t read that way to me.  That said, things may change further on.

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I rarely read the on-site reader discussions of online fiction; these usually seem to consist of “This is so cool!” and “I can’t wait to see what happens next!”  Doubtless this is edifying for the author, but it doesn’t add much to my experience as a reader.  It’s different with M. C. A. Hogarth’s The Aphorisms of Kherishdar.  Here people—obviously [more . . .]

The Aphorisms of Kherishdar are beautiful. There really is no other word for it. These 25 short little flash fiction pieces reveal the heart and soul of a richly created alien culture.

It’s hard to create a truly alien culture and make it believable but The Aphorisms succeed admirably. Short they [more . . .]

I was extremely intrigued (and excited) about the premise of these stories: A culture where prescribed social interactions and a caste system are healthy social dynamics. I’ve always been fascinated by caste worlds in fiction, from the Dragonriders of Pern to the Black Jewels Trilogy, where everyone has an intrinsic place in the social order and a sense of belonging [more . . .]